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Preview: Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Wolfsburg - prediction, team news, lineups

sportsmole.co.uk, 23 February 2024, 16:44
Eintracht Frankfurt will look to bounce back from their Europa Conference League exit when they welcome Wolfsburg to Deutsche Bank Park on Sunday.

Die Adler head into the weekend in sixth place in the Bundesliga table, while Wolfsburg begin matchday 23 in 12th position.

Match preview

Frankfurt's European journey came to a disappointing end in midweek as they fell to a narrow 2-1 loss in the home leg of their playoff round tie against Belgian outfit Union SG.

Not only did the result condemn Frankfurt to a 4-3 aggregate defeat, but it also extended their winless run to five matches in all competitions, leaving Dino Toppmoller's side without a victory since beating Mainz 1-0 at the end of January.

After being dumped out of the Europa Conference League on Thursday, Frankfurt will now turn their focus to securing their place in Europe for next season, with die Adler currently sitting in the top six with 33 points to their name.

Frankfurt's form in the league has been hampered by the failure to convert draws into victories, having drawn three of their last five league matches despite the fact they enjoyed a lead in each of those three matches.

With the hosts desperate to return to winning ways on Sunday, they can take confidence from the fact they have won three of their last four home matches in the Bundesliga.

Like their hosts, Wolfsburg have also been frustrated with a flurry of draws after seeing five of their previous six league games finish all square.

However, they would have been left satisfied with a point in last Sunday's home game against Borussia Dortmund, with Yannick Gerhardt coming off the bench to score in the 63rd minute and cancel out Niclas Fullkrug's early opener.

While a draw against Dortmund is a respectable result, the 1-1 scoreline did extend their winless run to seven Bundesliga matches, leaving Niko Kovac's side in the bottom half of the table and eight points above the bottom three ahead of the weekend's round of fixtures.

Despite being without a win since the middle of December, die Wolfe do have the chance to complete a league double over Frankfurt after recording a 2-0 victory in September's reverse fixture thanks to a Jonas Wind brace.

In fact, Wolfsburg have won three of their last four meetings with Frankfurt, including 1-0 and 2-0 victories on their last two trips to Deutsche Bank Park.

Eintracht Frankfurt Bundesliga form:

W

D

W

L

D

D

Eintracht Frankfurt form (all competitions):

W

L

D

D

D

L

Wolfsburg Bundesliga form:

D

D

D

D

L

D

Team News

Eintracht Frankfurt can no longer call upon Austrian forward Sasa Kalajdzic, who has returned to his parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers after sustaining a serious knee injury in the draw with Freiburg last weekend.

Kalajdzic is joined on the sidelined by the midfield duo of Hugo Larsson and Mehdi Loune, while full-back Philipp Max is a doubt due to illness.

Eric Junior Dina Ebimbe could be presented with a starting opportunity after he came off the bench to score a late goal in Thursday's Europa Conference League defeat.

As for the visitors, they will have to make a late decision on the availability of Mattias Svanberg, who is trying to overcome a shoulder issue in time for Sunday's away trip.

Rogerio remains sidelined with a hamstring injury, but Tiago Tomas is set to come back into the matchday squad following a three-game absence because of an elbow problem.

Like Tomas, Lukas Nmecha is also expected to provide Kovac with a useful option off the bench after he made his long-awaited return from injury as a substitute in the 1-1 draw with Dortmund.

Eintracht Frankfurt possible starting lineup:

Trapp; Tuta, Koch, Pacho; Dina Ebimbe, Gotze, Skhiri, Nkounkou; Knauff, Chaibi, Marmoush

Wolfsburg possible starting lineup:

Casteels; Baku, Lacroix, Jenz, Maehle; Gerhardt, Arnold; Majer, Wind, Paredes; Behrens

We say: Eintracht Frankfurt 2-2 Wolfsburg

Having found wins hard to come by in recent times, both teams will be desperate to claim maximum points in Sunday's encounter.

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